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Kushan Empire (ca. 2nd century b.c.–3rd century a.d.)

• 
  Votive panels, Kushan dynasty, ca. 3rd century A.D.
  Bactria (northern Afghanistan)
  Terracotta and gouache; H. (each) 22 1/2 in. (57.2 cm)
  Purchase, Raymond and Beverly Sackler Gift, 2000 (2000.42.2)
  Gift of Isao Kurita, 2000 (2000.42.4)
  
• 
  Birth of the Buddha, Kushan period
  Pakistan (ancient region of Gandhara, probably Takht-i-Bahi)
  Stone; 6 x 7 in. (16 x 19.7 cm)
  Gift of The Kronos Collections, 1987 (1987.417.1)
  
• 
  Torso of a monumental bodhisattva, ca. 5th century
  Pakistan, ancient region of Gandhara, probably Sahri Bahlol workshop
  Schist; H. 64 1/2 in. (163.8 cm)
  Purchase, Lila Acheson Wallace Gift, 1995 (1995.419)
• 
  The Gift of Anathapindada, Kushan period, 2nd–3rd century
  Pakistan, ancient region of Gandhara
  Schist with traces of gold foil; 9 5/8 x 9 in. (24.4 x 22.9 cm)
  Samuel Eilenberg Collection, Gift of Samuel Eilenberg, 1987 (1987.142.1)
  

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Under the rule of the Kushans, northwest India and adjoining regions participated both in seagoing trade and in commerce along the Silk Road to China. The name Kushan derives from the Chinese term Guishang, used in historical writings to describe one branch of the Yuezhi—a loose confederation of Indo-European people who had been living in northwestern China until they were driven west by another group, the Xiongnu, in 176–160 B.C. The Yuezhi reached Bactria (northwest Afghanistan and Tajikistan) around 135 B.C. Kujula Kadphises united the disparate tribes in the first century B.C. Gradually wresting control of the area from the Scytho-Parthians, the Yuezhi moved south into the northwest Indian region traditionally known as Gandhara (now parts of Pakistan and Afghanistan) and established a capital near Kabul. They had learned to use a form of the Greek alphabet, and Kujula's son was the first Indian ruler to strike gold coins in imitation of the Roman aureus exchanged along the caravan routes.

It was also a period of great wealth marked by extensive mercantile activities and a flourishing of urban life, Buddhist thought, and the visual arts.

Related

Timelines (5)

• Central and North Asia, 1
• Central and North Asia, 500–1000 a.d.
• South Asia, 1
• South Asia, 1000 b.c.
• Southeast Asia, 1–500 a.d.

Primary Thematic Essays (3)

• Buddhism and Buddhist Art
• The Year One
• Trade Between the Empires of Asia and Rome

Other Thematic Essays (9)

• Gandhara
• Kings of Brightness in Japanese Esoteric Buddhist Art
• Life of the Buddha
• List of Rulers of South Asia
• Mauryan Empire (ca. 323–185 B.C.)
• Recognizing the Gods
• South Asian Art and Culture
• The Parthian Empire (247 B.C.
• The Sasanian Empire (224-651 A.D.)

Maps (2)

• South and Southeast Asia, 1000 B.C.-1 A.D.
• World, 1000 B.C.-1 A.D.

Index Terms (13)

Art Movement/Style

• Kushan Period in Indian Art
• Mathura Art in India
• Mauryan Period in Indian Art

Geography/Place

• South Asia

Material and Technique

• Sculpture in the Round from South and Southeast Asia
• Relief Sculpture from South and Southeast Asia

Subject Matter/Theme

• Bodhisattva
• Buddha
• Buddhism
• Buddhist Sculpture in the Round
• Buddhist Sculpture Relief
• Trade (1–500 a.d.)
• Trade (1000 b.c.–1 a.d.)

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The rule of Kanishka, the third Kushan emperor who flourished from the late first to the early/mid-second century A.D., was administered from two capitals: Purushapura (now Peshawar) near the Khyber Pass, and Mathura in northern India. Under Kanishka's rule, at the height of the dynasty, Kushan controlled a large territory ranging from the Aral Sea through areas that include present-day Uzbekistan, Afghanistan, and Pakistan into northern India as far east as Benares and as far south as Sanchi. It was also a period of great wealth marked by extensive mercantile activities and a flourishing of urban life, Buddhist thought, and the visual arts.



The Gandhara region at the core of the Kushan empire was home to a multiethnic society tolerant of religious differences. Desirable for its strategic location, with direct access to the overland silk routes and links to the ports on the Arabian Sea, Gandhara had suffered many conquests and had been ruled by the Mauryans, Alexander the Great (327/26–325/24 B.C.), his Indo-Greek successors (third–second centuries B.C.), and a combination of Scythians and Parthians (second–first centuries B.C.). The melding of peoples produced an eclectic culture, vividly expressed in the visual arts produced during the Kushan period. Themes derived from Greek and Roman mythologies were common initially, while later, Buddhist imagery dominated: some of the first representations of the Buddha in human form date to the Kushan era, as do the earliest depictions of bodhisattvas.



Department of Asian Art, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Citation Department of Asian Art. "Kushan Empire (ca. 2nd century B.C.–3rd century A.D.)". In Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000–. http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/kush/hd_kush.htm (October 2000) Further Reading Milleker, Elizabeth J., ed. The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West. Exhibition catalogue.. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2000. Related exhibitions and online features Special Exhibitions (including upcoming, current, and past exhibitions)